A thermodynamic theory of supercooled liquids

A novel thermodynamic theory of the properties of supercooled liquids as they get glassy is presented. It is based on the postulated existence of a narrowly avoided thermodynamic phase transition at a temperature T ∗ ⩾ T m , where T m is the melting point, and the “avoidance” is due to geometric fru...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physica A 1995-09, Vol.219 (1), p.27-38
Main Authors: Kivelson, Daniel, Kivelson, Steven A., Zhao, Xiaolin, Nussinov, Zohar, Tarjus, Gilles
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:A novel thermodynamic theory of the properties of supercooled liquids as they get glassy is presented. It is based on the postulated existence of a narrowly avoided thermodynamic phase transition at a temperature T ∗ ⩾ T m , where T m is the melting point, and the “avoidance” is due to geometric frustration. We show that as a consequence two large emergent length scales develop at temperatures less than T ∗ , and we also show that this picture is consistent with appropriate statistical mechanical models. A theoretical expression is obtained which permits collapse of the viscosity versus temperature of all known glass-formers onto a single master-curve.
ISSN:0378-4371
1873-2119
DOI:10.1016/0378-4371(95)00140-3